Investigative thrillers have been killed in cinema. They appear on screen every week, following familiar tunes, and often running into each other. The rare people who stand out have one quality in common – they never take the audience for granted. They treat the audience as intelligent, engaged participants in the puzzle rather than passive observers waiting to be told the answer. Question Mrityunjay The rise from the beginning is a simple matter: does it hold its own among those films?

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Jai, also known as Mrityunjay (Sri Vishnu), is an ambitious crime reporter who finds himself trapped in the ugliest corner of journalism – securing obituary advertisements for a newspaper. To accomplish his goals, he takes morally dubious paths, visiting the homes of the recently deceased, posing as a family friend, and convincing bereaved relatives to pay for the obituaries. It’s a dark setup that the film uses well in its early stages. During one such trip, Jay notices unsettling similarities between two deaths and suspects foul play.

Running parallel to Jai’s investigation is police officer Sita, who is investigating the same deaths but is pressured to declare them accidents. When Jai pressures him to reopen the cases, their paths cross, setting the stage for a cat-and-mouse game between Jai and the killer. With a glorious duration of two hours and two minutes, Mrityunjay It has all the elements of a tight, engaging thriller.

Writer-director Hussain Sha Kiran takes his time establishing Jai’s world. The film unfolds casually, peeling off one layer at a time. Jay sees funerals so often that death barely registers for him anymore. Yet there is another side to him – one that comes to the fore when he encounters a young girl who has lost both her parents. It’s a quietly effective moment that adds emotional texture to an otherwise one-dimensional character.

The most interesting idea of ​​the film is the dynamic between Jai and the villain played by Veer Aryan. Instead of setting them up as direct opposites, Mrityunjay Draws parallels between them – two people with similar qualities, similar tendencies, working on opposite sides of the law. It’s a compelling premise and for a while the film makes good money on it. Jai studies the villain’s modus operandi and attempts to use them against him – a clever conceit that, in theory, should make for a tense and intellectually satisfying thriller.

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Unfortunately that’s not the case, because writing takes the easy route. Instead of allowing the two characters to out-think each other, the film relies on convenient coincidences and logic that don’t hold up to scrutiny.

Sita, who is established as an important presence in the investigation, gradually fades into the background – a missed opportunity, given that her perspective could have added another dimension to the story. Despite Veer Aryan’s quietly menacing presence, the villain is given very little room to breathe. His character has really interesting characteristics, but limited expression prevents him from being the formidable character the film needs.

Sri Vishnu’s natural comic flair comes through at times, which keeps the mood from getting too heavy. It’s really refreshing to see him in a serious role after so many comedy films, and he handles the transition quite easily. But even he can’t paper over the cracks in a script that consistently prioritizes convenience over craft.

Mrityunjay is a thriller that knows what it wants to be but doesn’t quite get there. The ideas are interesting enough to hold your attention, and the setup is promising enough that the disappointment will eventually become a little more intense. With sharper writing and more willingness to let its characters achieve their triumphs, this could have been one of the better Telugu thrillers in recent memory. Instead, it’s set to be a depressing reminder of what could have been.